Hill seeks to steer FAI towards higher ground
John Delaney’s replacement is unable to avoid questions from both the recent and distant past of Irish association
IN THE course of his lengthy maiden press conference as CEO, Jonathan Hill targeted the day where the FAI will no longer be associated with the travails of the John Delaney era and the sentiments they trigger. “We will get to a point whereby people will forget what happened 20 years ago and won’t need to or want to read Champagne Football,” said Hill, with a nod to the book that chronicled the shameful era of his predecessor.
He’s got a job on his hands to make that happen.
Normally, the appointment of a new CEO is filled with big picture talk and while Hill, a former commercial director of the English FA, was clearly keen to steer discussion down that road, he couldn’t avoid diversions created by strife of the recent past.
The Delaney years were spoken of in general terms with Hill steering clear of direct queries related to the former incumbent while asserting that the brand damage suffered is not irreparable, even though the admission that the search for a new national team sponsor remains ongoing tells its own story to a degree.
But the Englishman actually spent more time fielding queries about Videogate, Damien Duff’s exit and all that went with it. He confirmed that Duff’s dim historical view of the FAI was one of the issues raised in a discussion with the departed coach. ‘Legacy issues’ is now effectively an established part of the FAI lexicon.
Stephen Kenny’s turbulent autumn divided opinions to a degree, in the sense that were varied views on how blame should be apportioned for a somewhat chaotic run, yet Hill – who has yet to relocate to Ireland on account of Covid – met Kenny in London recently and has said the FAI will seek to support the manager.
The appointment of Chelsea first team coach Anthony Barry, which was announced after Hill completed his media duties, fills the gap left by Duff even if lingering questions remain. One of those is the extent to which the FAI’s Videogate probe confirmed Duff’s negative view of the Association’s way of doing business.
“What I do know is that when we became aware, initially from a newspaper within the UK media had got a story and then an Irish newspaper then got the story as well, of what they believed the story was, I feel comfortable that it was the right thing for us do – to establish the facts,” said Hill, who disputes the use of the word ‘investigation’.
“The reason why we did that was because we wanted to know before we took it to the board and said ‘look, these are the facts of the matter and this is what should happen’” continued Hill, who swatted away comments related to the possible source of the leak.
“In reality that took us 48 hours to do. Unfortunately I couldn’t be there to do it myself because I was here in the UK. Gary Owens talked to people.
“I was then able to watch the video myself. When I sat in front of the board, obviously I was the only English person on that call, I could say that on a personal basis I was not offended by the video at all. Given all of the other conversation we had, the board listened, debated and said there was no case to answer and we move on. And genuinely I think we must move on from it now.”
Interruptions
That may remain an aspiration until Kenny’s side get some points on the board, with the English episode a follow-on from the Covid interrupted October and November windows. Hill smiled in saying that he didn’t need the recent chat with the manager to get a handle around his feelings on the interruptions. Evidently, Kenny has made his views known before now.
But with the Covid conditions set to be a factor around the March triple header, the FAI have looked at their operations to see where they can improve. With every member of the bubble confined to the hotel with friends and family barred, it’s been a different experience from the typical Irish gathering. “I think we are well placed to learn from the lessons,” he said, “These were unprecedented times.”
Brexit got a mention too, another of the topics touched upon worthy of a press conference to discuss that issue alone. Hill spoke of improving structures at home and doing better in terms of accessing government and European funds, yet he did also drop into discussion that the FAI remain in talks with FIFA around the rules that now stop Irish players from going to England until they are 18.
Hill worded his answer carefully, but there is talk of a seeking an exemption (thus allowing Irish youths to still go to the UK at 16) that would be music to the ears of the stars of the generation coming through but would also remove a key reason to lobby to get structures right over the longer term. Lobbying to pass up that opportunity would be a questionable strategy, a defeatist admission of inadequacy.
To some degree, all of this can be traced back to the elephant in the room, and the financial complications created by it. Hill was picked over other candidates because of his ability to generate cash but there are a lot of moving parts that will shape his success.
“I am genuinely more interested in the next 20 years than I am the last 20 years and I think the staff and all of our stakeholders share that position,” he said. “But clearly we learn from everything that has happened in the past to frame decision making going forward.”
The legacy issues won’t be going away overnight.